Day 3 of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Wrap
The ‘Nation’s Action Track,’ Winton Motor Raceway certainly delivered drama today, in what was a thrilling way to conclude the opening round of the 2025 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series.
TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series - Presented by Maritimo.
There was a twist at every turn in the TA2 Muscle Car Series.
Race 1 was relatively calm up front but saw a lot of drama behind the leading duo of Jarrod Hughes and Ben Gomersall.
Gomersall may have taken pole position; however it was Hughes off the line that got the jump and took the race lead into Turn 1.
The Unit Racing Mustang of Gomersall kept up with the leader early, but in the end, Hughes took the win by over a second. Gomersall finished second, however there was last lap drama behind.
Josh Webster was attacking Brad Gartner for third on the final lap, but suffered a mechanical failure and finished fifth behind Josh Thomas.
Race 2 was tame early on, well up the front anyway. Cars were spearing off left right and centre further back.
Hughes looked set for a four-race sweep in the opening round until something broke in the front of the car and forced him to limp to the finish line. He lost the lead on the penultimate lap to Gomersall.
Gomersall took the win from Hughes, but more drama was to come.
After a hard but fair exchange, Webster had made his way into third, however an unforced error on the final lap saw him spin off into the gravel trap at Turn 7, he was out of the race.
Gartner inherited third and beat a hard charging Diesel Thomas, while speedway legend Robbie Farr rounded out the top five, his best finish in the series.
Legend Cars Australia
The 36 drivers in Legend Cars had a busy day with three races, all of which went the way of Robert Hogan.
Hogan started off the day with an emphatic race victory from ninth on the grid, as the top 10 were reversed from the Race 2 results. The Race 2 victor Ryan Pring came through from 10th and would finish second, ahead of Riley Skinner, Dylan Thomas and Ben Goodridge.
It remained the same at the front for Race 4, Hogan beating home Pring. Former TA2 Muscle Car series champion Dylan Thomas made his way past Riley Skinner, as Shane Tate rounded out the top five.
The fifth and final race of the weekend looked to be much the same, however Ryan Pring was unable to get past Hogan and ended up dropping behind Dylan Thomas who finished in second. Skinner and Aiden Williams rounded out the top five.
Innovation Race Cars
Race 2 yesterday was action packed and that continued into both of today’s races in the inaugural round of the Innovation Race Cars.
This morning John Goodacre became the third different winner in as many races, he simply stayed out of trouble while those around him knocked themselves and each other out of contention.
Danny Stutterd took the lead off the line, both Geoff Emery and Goodacre were faster, but could not find a way through.
In the end - after they had made contact on several occasions – Emery lost his bonnet and Stutterd’s right-rear tyre was ripped to shreds firing him off the road.
Emery was forced to the lane for driving without a bonnet and was eventually disqualified post-race.
So, with the top two out, Goodacre was left in the lead and was just able to hold onto the win from Geoff Taunton who started from the very back of the field. Timothy Leithhead in his MARC I machine rounded out the top three.
Up front Taunton was unstoppable in the final race, taking victory by over 10s from Goodacre and Grant Donaldson.
Emery was the innocent party in the final race, wiped out by a spinning Darren Currie at the sweeper. Ironically Currie was driving Stutterd’s IRC machine.
Hankook Australian Drivers’ Championship
Like Legend Cars, the Hankook Australian Drivers’ Championship had three races today.
The first one was won by reigning champion Damon Sterling, he was challenged early by Hayden Crossland, but that challenge faded late in the piece.
Dean Crooke was third in the opening encounter yesterday, but he found himself facing backwards at Turn 2 on the opening lap and would eventually retire the car.
Niko French would take the place instead, he beat home Lucas Stasi and Hamish Leighton.
Race 3 saw a great exchange between Sterling and Crossland, in the opening stanza Crossland sent one from miles back at Turn 1 and made it stick to take the race lead.
After a mid-race safety car he was unable to pull away, nevertheless he made it to the line in front to take his first win of the season, Sterling was second.
Stasi sat third all race long, however, right at the death, Crooke from the back of field caught him. It was a drag race to the line, a drag race that went the way of Stasi by 0.05s.
The final race saw the top three, Crossland, Sterling and Crooke waltz off into the distance. They were very evenly matched, but no mistake or move was made it remained in that order.
Australian Super Tin Tops
Race 3 of the Super Tin Tops was a great race, the two BMW E46 drivers of Mark Tracey and Matt Sims fought for much of the affair, with the latter making his way by just after the mid-point.
He looked set for victory until… just ahead of him Wayne Always in his Mazda RX-7 had a diff failure which put oil all over the track at Turn 11.
On the final lap, unaware of what had occurred, Sims slid off on the oil and gave Tracey the victory. Sims finished in second ahead of Brent Edwards in his Ford Falcon.
That was the last we would see of Edwards, on the way to the grid for the final race, he suffered a power steering failure.
Again, the two BMWs battled, Tracey held on early before Sims blasted by. However, Sims received a 5s penalty for a start line infringement.
Late in the race Sims kept catching traffic at the wrong time, this enabled Tracey to stay within 5s and as a result claimed another win.
Sims was again the bridesmaid from Joshua Robins in his Lotus Elise, Robins himself inherited third after Tony Saint suffered a five-second penalty for a start infringement.
Photos: Velocity Magazine
